Sympathy for fallen comrades

Nearly reaching his eighties, Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung still maintains his agile style. In particular, he has good health and a sharp memory. In his office, the papers he carefully recorded about martyrs' information are arranged scientifically and can be looked up immediately. An old general at a rare age is willing to travel from North to South to carry out activities to pay tribute to martyrs and do policy work for the subjects. What motivation helps his legs not get tired on the journey of love? Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung honestly said: "Thanks to the martyrs' support, the more I go, the more I feel my strength getting stronger and my mind is at peace." He went to repay his comrades, because he felt luckier than many martyrs still lying in the deep forests and mountains.

Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung presented funds to support the construction of gratitude houses for martyrs' relatives in Quang Ninh in 2024. Photo: TIN NGHIA

“Going to the battlefield without regretting your youth” is the ideal of the youth class determined to destroy the enemy and make achievements, ready to sacrifice themselves for the Fatherland. In November 1965, young Hoang Khanh Hung volunteered to join the army. After 3 months of training, Hoang Khanh Hung was assigned to the Ben Thuy Engineering Company (Nghe An Provincial Military Command) to be trained to drive canoes, steadfastly clinging to ferries and river wharfs under the enemy's bombs and bullets. In May 1969, he was assigned to Battalion 54 (Division 324, Tri Thien Military Region), participating in the battle of A Bia hill (also known as "minced meat hill") in Thua Thien-Hue. In this battle, witnessing comrade Le Minh Duc, a 12.7mm gunner, being hit by a bomb fragment and dying while confronting enemy aircraft, Hoang Khanh Hung was extremely heartbroken as he hugged his comrade from Nghe An, then buried his comrade on the battlefield. Over the years, the terrain has changed, traces have been erased, so the remains of martyr Le Minh Duc have not been found.

Soldier Hoang Khanh Hung's footsteps left their mark on fierce battlefields. In July 1970, he participated in the battle in Coc Bai, Co Pung (Thua Thien-Hue battlefield) as Deputy Political Commissar of Company 3, Battalion 54 (Division 324). The company had soldier Dang Tho Truat as a 12.7mm gunner, with the same battery, with the achievement of shooting down many planes. In the battle at Hill 935, the enemy dropped bombs that flattened the entire hill. Some soldiers died, comrade Hung suppressed his grief and buried his comrades with his own hands before retreating to the rear base.

In the midst of a fierce battlefield, after just one battle, some died and some survived. In the fiery summer of 1972, Hoang Khanh Hung participated in the battle at Quang Tri Citadel. Here, his sworn brother Nguyen Van Du, who was in the formation attacking the citadel, was wounded in the leg. When contacting the unit to bring comrade Du back, he was hit by an artillery shell and died. Until now, HCLS Du has not been found, causing his brother and comrade Hoang Khanh Hung to be tormented for many years.

Efforts to find martyrs' remains

After the war, comrade Hoang Khanh Hung held many positions and became a general. In 2010, he officially retired. Although he was old, he did not “rest in peace”, he thought a lot about his comrades. Once, he visited General Secretary Le Kha Phieu and received the following advice: “When fighting, comrades told each other that the living would bring the dead back. Now that peace has come, let us try to do things to show gratitude to our comrades.”

Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung (second from right) and his wife went to Laos to search for martyrs' remains in 2019. Photo: TIN NGHIA

"Comrades" are two sacred words! He felt sorry for those who remained on the old battlefield. He recalled the past and then the image of his sworn brother, his old comrade Nguyen Van Du, who sacrificed himself when he was only twenty years old, flickered in his memory. Coming to the martyr Du's house, he lit incense before his portrait. The martyr's parents had passed away, leaving only his younger sister to worship him. The house had seriously deteriorated over the years. Returning to Hanoi, he mobilized support sources to help build a new house with a solemn place to worship martyr Nguyen Van Du. On the day of his visit, the martyr's younger sister held Mr. Hung's hand, choked with emotion and unable to speak.

Time passes easily and erases traces of the past. That is a big challenge for the search for HCLS. That concern urged him to set out. In 2012, he and some members of the Tri Thien Military Region Martyrs' Families Support Association went to find HCLS. On the pickup truck of Do Tuan Dat, a volunteer, he returned to the old battlefield to find the remains of his comrades, helping the family transport HCLS from the South to the North.

Then he and his colleagues went to Laos, where the 324th Division fought in the past and where his comrades were buried. Arriving in Vientiane, Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung was welcomed by General Chansamone Chanyalath, Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister of the Lao Government, and supported in the search for the remains of Vietnamese Volunteer Soldiers. Over the years, he has gone to Laos nearly ten times and found dozens of martyrs' graves, handing them over to the Nghe An Provincial Steering Committee 515 to carry out the collection work. Each journey had to cover thousands of kilometers of mountain passes, wading through streams, and going through forests, but this did not deter the old general who was deeply devoted to his comrades. Fortunately, on the arduous journey, he had his wife, Nguyen Thi Bich, to accompany him. Because she was the child of a martyr, Mrs. Bich was very sympathetic and supported her husband in participating in gratitude activities. Therefore, even though she had thyroid cancer, she was still enthusiastic about accompanying her husband on every road.

As Chairman of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Families of Fallen Soldiers, Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung had the opportunity to work with the United States Institute of Peace and get to know expert Andrew Wells-Dang, who has many studies and articles on war legacy issues, through which he discussed the search for HCLS in Vietnam. In 2021, he was invited by the Institute to attend a conference in the United States, through which he contacted US veterans to get information about Vietnamese martyrs. When contacted, the US veterans told him that they felt remorseful and wanted to do something to help Vietnam in the search for HCLS. After the conference, he reported and raised the issue with the Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States, requesting the US Government to create conditions for US veterans to come to Vietnam to support the search for HCLS.

In June 2024, 7 US veterans flew to Vietnam. Mr. Brucolo provided 21 sets of documents on mass graves and coordinated with the HCLS collection team of several provinces in the Southeast region to conduct the search. To date, at Loc Ninh airport (Dong Nai), 135 HCLS have been searched and collected.

Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung said: “When discussing in detail, the US veterans informed that if all the documents were excavated, there would be about 3,000 HCLS. Right at Bien Hoa airport (Dong Nai), there are about 152 HCLS, at that time, Mr. Brucolo was a soldier at the airport and witnessed that. Currently, 21 sets of documents have been handed over to the National Steering Committee 515 to serve the next tasks.”

Gratitude, honor

The work of showing gratitude to those who have contributed to the country is like a never-ending stream and requires the cooperation of the social community. To show gratitude effectively, Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung directly reported to agencies and organizations at the central and local levels to see the role of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Families of Martyrs. This is a social organization without a payroll or salary fund, but its staff and members are still tirelessly on the journey of showing gratitude, contributing to alleviating the pain left by war.

Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung burns incense to pay tribute to two martyrs who were returned to rest in Yen Bai (now Lao Cai province), 2023. Photo: TIN NGHIA

Recently, the Prime Minister specially recognized 5 martyrs of the Le Thi Rieng Female Commando Battalion and awarded them the "Fatherland's Gratitude" Certificate on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification. According to him, the story was a journey of perseverance, endurance and full of difficulties.

The Le Thi Rieng Women's Special Forces Battalion was established in early 1968, with the mission of fighting in enemy territory. When adding more troops, only their aliases were known, but their identities and hometowns were unknown. During the 1968 Tet Offensive and Uprising, 13 soldiers of the Battalion heroically sacrificed their lives. The State granted the "Fatherland's Gratitude" Certificate to 8 martyrs, but the remaining 5 soldiers with the aliases of Ms. Hai Don Ganh, Mr. Tu Com Tam, Ms. Sau Gia, Mr. Bo and Ms. Ly Giao Duyen have not been granted. For many years, his comrades submitted petitions requesting recognition as martyrs for the 5 soldiers but were not successful. In 2024, he directly met with witnesses to study documents, contacted the authorities of Ho Chi Minh City, assessed the content, prepared a report to the Prime Minister and proposed recognition as martyrs. Thanks to his efforts and the support of individuals and organizations, the results were successful. The martyrs were awarded the "Fatherland's Gratitude" Certificate and had their names engraved in Ben Duoc Temple for future generations to remember and show gratitude.

In the work of paying tribute to martyrs, searching for, correcting information and returning names to martyrs is extremely meaningful. Currently, out of more than 1,146,000 martyrs nationwide, there are still 530,000 martyrs whose names are unknown or incorrect, more than 300,000 HCLS have been put in cemeteries, and 180,000 martyrs whose remains have not been found. Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung said: "To correct information, we use methods such as empirical evidence, comparing records with the field, DNA testing... For each case that receives the correct results, we help relatives bring the HCLS back to rest in their homeland."

During his journey to support the families of martyrs, he spent a lot of time visiting and encouraging Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and mothers of martyrs. The mothers were all at an age that is rare today. He shared: “There were mothers lying in bed, unable to walk, with skinny hands and cloudy eyes. When asked, the first words they said were “Where is my child?”, “When will my child come back?”. At that time, I could not hold back my tears, telling myself that I had to try harder in the work of repaying gratitude.”

Although the war has long since ended, Lieutenant General Hoang Khanh Hung's journey of gratitude continues as a solemn oath between soldiers. In the silence of his journeys through the forest, among the nameless tombstones stained with time or the weary eyes of an old mother waiting for her son, he tries his best to find HCLS, bring them back to his homeland, and connect the desire to "reunite" with his relatives.

VU DUY

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-16/vi-tuong-tron-nghia-tri-an-837698